Tri-City's All Stars win three tournaments

Jim LinsdauTri-City All Stars Nick Eaton (left) and Zach Dunkhase combined their hitting and pitching to clinch the 10-11 Area 1 championship.

After being down 3-0 in the first inning, Tri-City’s 10-11 All Stars came back to score eight 8 in the second inning and went on to defeat Lincoln 11-7 in the District 11 Area 1 10-11 All Stars championship series concluded Friday night.
Lincoln’s pitching began to break down in the second inning as Tri-City’s bats came to life. The local All Stars put together seven hits, including a home run by Nick Eaton, and a double by Jake Remington. Three batters drew a base-on-balls to help add to the number of runs that crossed the plate.
“Today we really preached swinging the bats,” said Tri-City Manager Jason Field said of what the coaching staff said to the players before the game. “Be aggressive at the plate and be confident in yourself. The bat is not going to swing itself.”
Tri-City’s Zach Dunkhase come on as a relief pitcher in the first inning to quell Lincoln’s rally, then went 4 2/3 innings to hold his opponents at bay while his teammates racked up the runs. The Tri-City defense was also on its game as it tagged out three runners at the plate, forced out three runners on the bases, and had five unassisted putouts during the game (all statistics unofficial).
Dunkhase managed to work his way out of a jam in the second inning when Lincoln loaded the bases after scoring two runs. Lincoln left seven runners on base in all during the contest.
“We were down by three runs and I knew our team could come back,” said Dunkhase as to taking over the mound in the first inning. “(I pitched) mainly fastballs. I threw a little bit of curve balls, but that’s all I have.”
Chad Bagell pitched most of the way for Lincoln, and was relieved by Preston Eklund in the last inning. Lane Field came on in the last inning to relieve Bagell after Lincoln’s James Sweet hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning to cut Tri-City’s lead to five. Field struck out one and his defense did the rest.
Lincoln’s Alex Fong was responsible for all three of Tri-City’s outs in the sixth inning. Two outs were unassisted, and he threw a runner out at first base.
Eaton appeared to suffer an injury at catcher when a pitch went off his foot. However, he recovered and finished the game with showing any after effects.
“I didn’t time it right,” Eaton said of the pitch. “I just should have smothered it, but I didn’t so it hit my foot.”
Eaton said he and his teammates were excited about the upcoming Area 1 vs. Area 2 championship series coming up.